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Robin
Damian Wayne is a fictional character in the DC Comics Universe. Damian is the child of Bruce Wayneand Talia al Ghul, and thus the grandson of Batman villain Ra's al Ghul. The character originally appeared as an unnamed infant in the 1987 story Son of the Demon, which was then never mentioned within continuity. Following this, various alternate universe stories dealt with the course of the character's life, giving him varying names. In 2006, the character was reinterpreted as Damian Wayne by Grant Morrison, and reintroduced into the main continuity in Batman #655, the first issue of the "Batman & Son" story arc. Having spent his gestation in a laboratory, Damian as a pre-adolescent is left by his mother in the care of his father, who was not aware of his son's existence until that point in time. Damian is violent and self-important, and was trained by the League Of Assassins, learning to kill at a young age, which creates a troubled relationship with his father who refuses to kill his opponents. However, the Dark Knight does care for his lost progeny. After the events of B''atman: R.I.P'' and Batman:Battle For the cowl, Damian takes up the identity of Robin at ten years of age,becoming the fifth person to use the Robin identity. He first worked with Dick Grayson - the original Robin - who temporarily took over as Batman, before going to work alongside his father, upon Bruce Wayne's return to the role of Batman. When his mother put a price on his head, Damian temporarily abandoned Robin to assume the identity of Red Bird. ''Batman & Son'' Main article: Batman & Son Damian's origin is unknown to Batman. Genetically perfected and grown in an artificial womb, Damian was intended to be a formidable warrior. He is raised by Talia and the League of Assassins. He becomes a talented martial artist by the time he is a pre-teen, at which time Talia reveals Damian's existence to Bruce Wayne and leaves him in Batman's custody in an effort to disrupt Batman's work. Precocious, spoiled, and violent, Damian battles Tim Drake whom he wants to replace as Wayne's Robin, and sucker punches Drake off the stuffed Tyrannosaurus in the Batcave when Tim stops fighting to help him. Damian then escapes, dons a variant Robin costume made of Jason Todd's old tunic and mask and assorted League of Assassin gear, and gets into a fight with and decapitates the villainous Spook. Although misguided and malicious, Damian seems to genuinely want to aid Wayne's war on crime as he sees himself as Wayne's son and wants Wayne's approval. Unfortunately, because of how he was raised, Damian lacks any sort of common sense in regards to social behavior, and believes that in order to be accepted by Batman, he must kill any rivals, which included Tim Drake. Eventually, Batman confronts Talia to confirm Damian's true identity, but both Talia and Damian are soon caught in an explosion. They survive the explosion, but a badly injured Damian requires transplants of harvested organs, which his mother orders her physicians to carry out. Damian makes a full recovery. ''he Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul'' Main article: Batman : the Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul Beginning in Batman Annual #26 ("Head of the Demon"), Talia takes Damian to the Australian Outback, where he is tutored in the secret history of his grandfather, Ra's al Ghul . Talia is unaware that a former servant of Ra's, named White Ghost, plans to use Damian as a shell for the soul of Ra's to return to Earth. This process would, of course, kill Damian. Talia is able to save her son from his fate at the last minute. Ra's is still able to return, but as a rotting, shambling undead corpse, still needing Damian to stabilize his form. Damian flees to alert Batman, but is pursued by his evil grandfather. Upon entering Wayne Manor, Damian attempts to relay to Robin the fact that Ra's has returned. Robin, suspicious of Damian's intentions, does not believe his story and begins a fist fight. Damian flees and encounters Alfred. Before he can effectively relay his news, he is attacked by Robin, who perceives Damian's attempt to help a tripping Alfred as an attack, and renews their battle. As they fight, members of the League of Assassins approach the manor with the intention of killing all others within and bringing Damian back to Ra's alive. Damian and Robin (Tim) fight side-by-side against Ra's and his minions. Their collaboration is hindered by their very different philosophies of battle. Damian is willing to betray Tim at any moment for his own safety. Ra's captures the two and tells Batman that he will use one of them for his own body. Batman offers his own body instead. Ra's refuses the offer, feeling that he needs someone of a younger age. The choices are Robin or Damian. Batman offers a third alternative: "Fountain of Essence," which contains the qualities of a lazarus pit. Batman and Ra's go in search of the fountain, leaving Tim, Damian, Nightwing, Alfred, and Talia to battle the Sensei. Damian leaves his mother and Tim to an unknown fate, while he goes off to be with his father. He ends up captured by Ra's and nearly loses his life. Batman and the others manage to save him, and Talia takes her son and escapes. A subsequent conversation between Robin and Alfred implies that Batman has carried out a DNA test on Damian. Alfred says Bruce intended to tell him the results when the time was right. At this, Tim realizes that Damian is indeed Bruce's son, and exclaims "The son of Satan is my brother?" ''Batman R.I.P. Main article: Batman:R.I.P Prior to the start of Grant Morrison's "Batman:R.I.P." story arc in ''Batman #675, Damian has sensed that someone is out to get Batman. In response to this, Talia begins to formulate a plan. That plan seems to involve getting the help of Commissioner James Gordon, whom Talia and Damian rescue from a booby-trapped Wayne Manor, while in search of Batman, who has gone insane and missing. Damian and Alfred race to aid Batman against the Black Glove in a commandeered Batmobile and Damian who is driving, knocks an ambulance off a bridge without any sign of remorse or even concern. When Alfred reprimands him, Damian retorts with a backhanded threat. Thankfully, the only occupant of the ambulance was the Joker. ''Battle for the Cowl'' Main article: Batman:Battle For The Cowl In Nightwing #153 (2009), Damian is shown being left in the care of Alfred Pennyworth and trained by Dick Grayson. Upon the start of Batman: Battle for the Cowl, it appears that Damian is now residing in Gotham, and living under the command of Nightwing (to an extent). Where before Damian portrayed an arrogant and vicious personality, it appears the "death" of his father has regressed him to a more childlike mindset, as demonstrated when he takes the Batmobile joy-riding with an older girl. This is discovered by Oracle, who ejects the girl and takes control of the Batmobile, intent on taking Damian home. Unfortunately, the car is blindsided by Killer Croc and Poison Ivy, who prepare to kill Damian. The older girl Damian was with is later eaten by Killer Croc. Damian is saved by Nightwing who ends up being cornered by Black Mask's men, until a murderous figure appears stating that he is Batman (this is later revealed to be Jason Todd). Although shot by Todd, Damian recovers, and saves Tim Drake from falling to death inside Jason's Batcave. When Grayson hangs up his Nightwing mantle to become the newest Batman, Damian takes over the mantle of Robin by his side. ''Batman: Reborn'' Main article: Batman:Reborn Despite becoming Grayson's Robin, Damian reveals that he cares little for his older brother and has no respect for him as Batman and that the latter would have to earn it. In an act of defiance, Damian decides to make the Robin mantle independent from that of Batman and decides to stop Dr.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_PhosphorusPhosphorus from breaking in to Project Cadmus, but fails miserably and is saved by Dick. Dick then begins to train Damian as to how to properly become the new Robin and the two develop their own unique crime fighting style. Damian then begins to mock Tim Drake for not being chosen as Robin, causing Tim to severely beat Damian, only to be stopped by Dick. After Tim leaves, Damian starts engaging in chess games with Hush, visiting him secretly against Dick's orders. Dick and Damian then encounter a villain called Professer Pyg, who has created an army called Dollotrons. Dick and Damian take the entire army down and begin to form a brotherly relationship. Damian blames himself for being unable to save a single Dollotron, a girl named Sasha, but unbeknownst to him, the girl is taken in by Jason Todd, who had previously shot Damian. thereby becoming the new Robin's opposite number in Red Hood's no-holds-barred war against crime (Red Hood's maxim is "let the punishment fit the crime"). Damian and Dick then attack Firefly, who is attempting to kill Black Mask. Victor Zsasz defeats Robin and rescues the Black Mask while Dick takes down the Firefly. These events cause Hush to escape, causing Damian to grow a further hatred for the criminal. Damian is present when Dick is inducted into the JLA, upon hearing, Damian demands to be inducted along with Dick, but his demands are promptly ignored. Damian is once again saved by Dick, with the assistance of Azrael, after a man named Amon tries to sacrifice him. Sasha, now dubbed Scarlet by Todd, returns and attacks Robin, as Jason attacks Dick, the two duos battle it out until the arrival of the Flamingo, who temporarily paralyzes Damian. Talia fixes Damian's spine, but puts in a monitor connected to his brain allowing her to control his every movement. As Dick and Damian go through various events together, such as against the Black Mask, the Blackest Night and a rogue Batman clone-corpse, the two bond even more, prompting Talia to give over control of the monitor to Deathstroke who tries to use it to kill Dick. Working together, Dick and Damian manage to stop Deathstroke. As Dick cares little for the financial problems of Wayne Enterprises, despite inheriting it from Bruce along with Tim, Damian decides to involve himself and manages to impress the board of directors. While he does not file a lawsuit against Dick, due to Grayson not being named the heir of Wayne Enterprises, but rather a high-ranking member, he does against Tim, who was named the heir to Wayne Enterprises. ''Red Robin'' Damian's second year as Robin begins with a bang, as he chooses this time to pick a fight against his predecessor, Tim Drake (Red Robin). Red Robin, who has been keeping a list of criminals and tasks he calls the Hit List, attracts Damian's fury when the Boy Wonder hacks the Hit List and discovers a hidden layer of allies to the Bat-Family considered by Tim as potential threats, among which is Robin. During a stakeout mission, Damian slices off Red Robin's line, causing him to fall from a great height. He survives, and Red Robin pulls Robin into an all-out brawl that begins with their quarry escaping, and ending in front of the theater where Bruce Wayne's parents were killed, and where Dick, Tim, and Damian's destinies were forged. Robin loses to Red Robin, but still struggles to fight when the two are stopped by Batman, who chastises the brothers for fighting in front of the theater where Batman was born. The two then enter into a grudging truce for the remainder of Robin's appearances in the series, with Batman (the one ally Red Robin trusted, and did not include in the Hit List) changing the Hit List password to make it difficult for Damian to hack. ''Blackest Night'' Main article: Blackest Night After Bruce's skull was taken from his grave, Damian and Dick decide to bring the rest of his skeleton, along with those of Damian's paternal grandparents, to their base beneath Wayne Tower. Damian is quite shaken by the sight of the bones of his family. On the way to the cave, Dick's body is possessed by Deadman, at whom Damian lashes out in confusion. Deadman then possesses and leaves Damian's body, subsequently passing his knowledge of the attack of the B'lack' Lanternonto him. The two heroes then prepare for the Black Lanterns' assault on Gotham. After raiding the Army Reserve National Guard Armory, Dick, Damian, and the arriving Tim Drake, are able to save Commissioner Gordon, Oracle, and the surviving police officers at Gotham Central from the reanimated versions of the original Dark Knight's deceased rogue gallery members. However, they then find themselves in a horrific encounter with the parents of Dick Grayson and Tim Drake reanimated as Black Lantern Dick and Tim send Damian with the Gordons to their underground base while they battle the Black Lanterns. Dick eventually orders Damian through their comm-links to send one of his Wingers with Mr. Freeze's gun. Grayson uses the weapon to cryogenically suspend himself and Tim, forcing the Black Lanterns to retreat as they are unable to read any sign of life of them. Deadman later revives the former Boy Wonders. Return of Bruce Wayne Talia begins to clone Damian as she realizes that her son has completely sided with Dick Grayson and the Bat-Family. Damian finally stands up for his Robin mantle, telling Talia that being Robin was the best thing that he had ever done, and Talia does not need to save him from something he chooses to be. Talia then shows Damian a cloned version of himself, whom she sees as Damian's younger brother. Talia admits to Damian, that even though she loves him, she is too much of a perfectionist to admire him for choosing a path that defies her this blatantly, and he is therefore no longer welcome, and will be considered an enemy of the House of al Ghul. Damian defiantly replies that he hopes to be a worthy one. Damian (as Robin) is then seen teaming up with Dick and Alfred to begin their own search for Bruce Wayne. During a confrontation with a returned minor villain the Getaway Genius, Damian is initially angry that Grayson failed to capture the foe - as well as the implication that his father failed as well during the Genius's original run back when Grayson was Robin - but when Dick explains to him that Bruce let the Genius go because he discovered that the Genius's robberies were only him stealing medicines that he needed so that he could live long enough to see his daughter grow up, Damian realises that he never really knew his father as a person, and admits that there was more to him than Batman. After Grayson's confidant Oberon Sexton is revealed to be the Joker in disguise, Damian tortures the villain by savagely beating him with a crowbar in order to get information, considering it to be self-defense since the Joker planned to attack him. However, the Clown Prince of Crime's apparent helplessness is revealed to be another ruse and he incapacitates Damian with his hidden Joker venom. The villain intends to use Damian and Dick in his fight against their common enemies: the Black Glove. Help arrives in the form of the original Batman. After Bruce Wayne helps Dick and Damian defeat the Black Glove and the Joker, Wayne accepts his son in additions of his role as Robin. Despite Bruce's parental responsibilities to Damian, he decides that he prefers Damian to continue working with Dick (who maintains the Batman mantle and whom Bruce sees as a positive role model for his son) rather than being with himself primarily, due to his plans with'' Batman inc. '' Teen Titans Damian joins the Teen Titans when Dick Grayson concludes that the team needs a Robin, while also feeling that Damian would benefit from the friendship of other heroes, having progressed to the point where he can be trusted not to kill if left 'unsupervised'. Although Wonder Girl objects to this decision, Grayson convinces her to let Damian stay on the team as he needs to learn that he can trust others not to betray him, only for his temper to jeopardize his first mission with the team when he attacks an opponent just after Raven had convinced him to calm down, provoking their new foe into starting his wave of destruction again. Robin eventually begins to develop a friendship with Ravenger, who initially reaches out to Damian due to their similar upbringings (Ravager's father being the notorious assassin, Deathstroke). Tim Drake eventually comes to the Titans for help after a robotic duplicate of the Calculator attempts to murder his close friend, Tam Fox, and decides to rejoin the team once the mission is completed. Damian chooses to leave the team upon Drake's return, reasoning that the Teen Titans do not need two Robins, and realizing that his teammates prefer to work with Tim. Upon returning to Gotham, Damian tells Dick that even though he'd been brought to the Titans in order to find friends, he did not need to, as he already had one, Grayson himself. When Blackat, Stephanie Brown's predecessor, returns to Gotham, she and Damian are partnered together during a stake-out to catch the Architect, a new villain obsessed with destroying Gotham landmarks. Damian berates Blackbat and mocks her for being sent to Hong Kong by his father, but she ultimately saves his life by rescuing him from the exploding Iceberg Lounge. Afterwards, the two work together to stop the bomber from destroying a massive bridge, saving dozens of lives in the process. Robin and a group of other ex-Titans later head to Titans Tower to help the team during a battle against Superboy-Prime and the Legion of Doom. During the battle, Robin destroys one of Prime's evil Superboyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Match_(DC_Comics)dopplegangers by using a Krtptonite blade. The New 52 Following the Flashpoint event, Bruce was returned by writers to being the only Batman, while Dick was returned to his previous role as Nightwing. Damian still serves as his father's partner as Robin. After reading the letter written by his father from an alternate timeline, the Dark Knight decides that it is time to take steps to put his past behind him. He tries to teach Damian the same values his parents have instilled within him as he finally assumes his role as a father. However, despite Bruce's attempts to build a relationship with his son, Damian remains cold and distant with his father, which Alfred worries about. This relationship is further strained when Damian kills the villain Nobody. During the "Leviathan" story arc, when his mother Talia puts a price on his head and is targeted by the most dangerous and skilled assassins, Bruce faked Damian's death and secluded him in the Batcave in order to protect him while he goes undercover to confront Talia and her minions. But against his father's wishes he escapes, donning a new costume under the name of Redbird.Along with the mysterious Wingman and most of the Bat-family, Damian manages to rescue his father and defeat most of the League of Shadows. However, Batman explains that the temporary defeat of the League won't stop a larger force to attack later and destroy the city, so he came to the extreme decision that the only solution possible is that Damian to return to his mother, a decision that caused an emotional reaction on Damian like never before. In Batman-related issues of The New 52 taking place after Batman issue #14 (the return of the Joker to comics), Damian has been portrayed as being very interested in fighting his father's arch foe. He seems to always be eager to take on The Joker, and repeatedly assumes that bad things happening in Gotham are related to The Joker in some way